DESCRIPTION: (Applicant's abstract verbatim) The goal of this BRP is to utilize a number of aspects of bioengineering in order to develop tools and therapeutics for the treatment and monitoring of muscular dystrophies. The project is collaboration between three investigators and includes the following areas of bioengineering relevant to the PA: 1) cell and tissue engineering, 2) imaging and 3) therapeutics. Collectively we will delineate factors that when expressed in muscle may slow that rate of degeneration that is concomitant with either the complete (Duchenne muscular dystrophy) or partial (Becker muscular dystrophy) loss of dystrophin. These studies will utilize the mdx mouse as the animal model for dystrophin deficiency. The long-term goal is to gain the understanding and tools necessary to develop adeno-associated (AAV)-based gene therapy for Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies. Three parallel lines of investigation (each directed by one of the three investigators) are proposed: Section 1: a dissection the mechanical role of dystrophin and muscle adhesion proteins (directed by Dennis Discher); Section 2: an assessment of the functional benefits of restoring adhesion molecules to dystrophic muscle using recombinant adeno-associated virus gene delivery (directed by H. Lee Sweeney, Ph.D.); and Section 3: development of non-invasive methods for monitoring therapeutic benefits of dystrophin gene transfer (directed by Glenn Walter, Ph.D.).